Kelly Rowland alleges she was racially profiled on a Cannes red carpet after video of her appearing to clash with an usher goes viral

• Kelly Rowland has spoken out about being "scolded" by an usher at the Cannes Film Festival.
• In a viral video, Rowland was seen being directed off the red carpet ahead of a movie premiere.

Kelly Rowland has spoken out about her seemingly heated exchange with a female security guard at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this week. The exchange was caught on video and subsequently shared widely on social media platforms.

The former Destiny's Child singer turned solo singer and actor walked the red carpet for Catherine Deneuve's latest film, "Marcello Mio" on Tuesday, where she posed for photographers and waved to fans.

As seen in video footage captured by an attendee, Rowland was directed up the Palais des Festivals staircase by several ushers, who closed in on her as she turned around to wave at someone in the crowd.

While Rowland initially appeared unfazed by the ushers' proximity, things turned when a woman in a black suit stepped on the train of her red Anamika Khanna gown.

Rowland then tapped her on the arm with a polite smile, but when the usher continued to tail her closely, her arm outstretched to drive the "Dilemma" singer up the staircase, Rowland then turned back to her and seemingly forcefully admonished her with an outstretched finger.

Speaking to the Associated Press at the amfAR gala two days later, Rowland shared her side of the story and suggested that she was racially profiled.

"The woman knows what happened. I know what happened," she said of the incident.

"I have a boundary, and I stand by those boundaries, and that is it," she continued. "And there were other women that attended that carpet who did not quite look like me and didn't get scolded, pushed off, or told to get off."

"I stood my ground, and she felt like she had to stand hers. But I stood my ground."

Representatives for the Cannes Film Festival's organizers, the French Association of the International Film Festival (AFFIF), did not respond to a request for comment sent by Business Insider outside regular working hours.

As Variety and NBC reported, the annual film festival is known for its strict red-carpet policies. Attendees must follow strict protocol for both their appearance and behavior while walking the red carpet.

Attendees can not, for example, take selfies or use their own cameras on the carpet. Wearing heels was once a necessity for women wanting to attend, but this rule was changed after the festival received backlash during its 2015 edition.

Guests are also hurried along if they linger on the carpet for too long, and Rowland isn't the first to be pushed off the red carpet. In 2013, socialite and Cannes regular Lady Victoria Hervey was told to leave the carpet after spending too long posing for photographers outside the Palais, reports said.